In answer to a lawsuit filed by CNN after the White House revoked one of the network reporter’s press passes, the White House on Wednesday asserted that it can decide which journalists are given passes and which ones aren’t.
According to a court filing by the Justice Department on Wednesday, White House lawyers say the president and his aides are the sole arbiters of who gets into the White House.
“The President and White House possess the same broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists (and other members of the public) that they possess to select which journalists receive interviews, or which journalists they acknowledge at press conferences,” lawyers say in the filing.
“That broad discretion necessarily includes discretion over which journalists receive on-demand access to the White House grounds and special access during White House travel for the purpose of asking questions of the President or his staff. …”
“[N]o journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House,” the filing says.
CNN’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta was kicked out of the White House last week after he refused to hand back a microphone at a Trump press conference, instead berating the president as he asked repeated questions. In its lawsuit filed Tuesday, CNN contends Acosta was simply exercising his First Amendment right. The suit names not just the Trump administration as a defendant, but press secretary Sarah Sanders, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, and the Secret Service agent who physically revoked Acosta’s credentials as well.
“The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process,” CNN said in a press release on Tuesday. “We have asked the court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass to be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process.”
